Opinion: Pain Killers
The first indicator was last fall’s elections, when communities across the country approved more than 200 anti-growth initiatives. The success of these referenda was noted by Gore’s presidential campaign, since the pool of community organizers responsible for the ballot measures is an excellent resource for Gore, a longtime member of the environmental movement.
Gore’s “Livability Agenda,” unveiled with much fanfare in January, proposes additional funding for congestion mitigation programs, better transportation planning and more money for mass transit.
Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater says his department’s proposed fiscal 2000 budget illustrates the administration’s belief that “there doesn’t have to be a conflict between mobility and prosperity on the one hand and a health environment on the other.” In fact, Slater said, “they go hand in hand.”
Much of the funding would come from $1.4 billion in unanticipated tax revenue generated by historically low fuel prices, greater consumption and a healthy economy (2-8, p. 3). Trucking is contributing more than $350 million of that largess, estimates American Trucking Associations economist Bob Costello.
Critics of the proposal, such as the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, say the money should go to build and repair highways, with no change in the allocation formulas. As ARTBA President Pete Ruane correctly points out, the nation’s road network still needs far more work than there is money to pay for it.
For the full story, see the Feb. 15 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.
